The leading riff of the title track “Viva Hades” it’s just a huge take off from “Personal Jesus” by Depeche Mode. Still, the album was nominated by the German ORKUS Magazine as “album of the month” and got 10 out of 10 points. Well, I was always a little bit skeptical about artists praised by media. Mono Inc. delivering German taste like Gothic Rock, blending melodious vocals with heavy guitar riffs and tones, synth layers and pianos with Metal sounds, they have a few better riffs – “Admiration Hill” which reminds me of Marilyn Manson – , they have some fine choruses and pumping themes (“C’est La Vie”), but still, I think Mono Inc. suffers from the same linear, repeating and mainly “pale” symptoms of musical constructions as most of the German artist/bands dose. Well, not everybody can be Faust or Einstürzende Neubauten, not even Rammstain, isn’t it? Read more Mono Inc. – Viva Hades (2011)
Caustic – The Golden Vagina of Fame and Profit (2011)
Matt Fanale is a funny guy. Not often you will find sense of humor in music – it seems that is all gone with Zappa…. – and rarely in “serious” genre as noise for example, you’ll find guys with appetite for some fun. Caustic was created in 2002 by Madison, Wisconsin’s Matt Fanale and just like “Trent Reznor is Nine Inch Nails,†Matt Fanale is Caustic. I stumbled into Caustic in 2009 by his album “This is Jizzcore” and I was positively surprised. Well, not everybody laugh while listening at „Hitler Ruined That Moustache For Everyoneâ€, „Redneck Pussyhouseâ€,â€This Track Will Get Skipped A Lotâ€, „I Gave the Blind Boy My Eyes (But Stole His Tongue)”, but humor – just like everything else – after all is a matter of taste. Sometimes Matt get into the area of Noise and Powernoise, this incursions sometimes are quite above my understanding and digestion capacity, but Matt mainly make constructions of classic EBM/IDM with deep resonances of the 80’s American Industrial scene and he make mainly pulsing, groovy themes which are really enjoyable. Read more Caustic – The Golden Vagina of Fame and Profit (2011)
Masami Akita, Mats Gustafsson and Jim O’Rourke – One Bird Two Bird (2011)
Limited edition of 500 copies vinyl release containing two tracks, “One Bird” 21.37 minutes, respectively “Two Bird” 13.38 minutes, this is the result of the clash of three twisted minded titans of experimental music in a studio session in Tokyo in 2009.
Masami Akita knowned of course as Merbow since 1979 has released over 350 recordings. Mats Olof Gustafsson is probably best knowned lately mainly by the trio called The Thing, but he first came to the attention of lovers of improvised music as part of a duo with Christian Munthe, started in 1986 and the band Gush, started in 1988. He has later played widely with musicians such as Peter Brötzmann, Joe McPhee, Paul Lovens, Barry Guy, Yoshimi P-We, Derek Bailey, Magnus Broo, Otomo Yoshihide, Jim O’Rourke, Thomas Lehn, Evan Parker, Misha Mengelberg, Zu, The Ex, Sonic Youth, Hamid Drake, Michael Zerang, Ken Vandermark and many others. O’Rourke Read more Masami Akita, Mats Gustafsson and Jim O’Rourke – One Bird Two Bird (2011)
The Five Corners Quintet – The Helsinki Sessions (2011)
A live recording with a Jazz band such as The Five Corners Quintet can’t be nothing but exciting. In 2005, The Five Corners Quintet from Helsinki took the international dancefloor jazz scene by a storm. “Chasin’ the Jazz Gone Byâ€, their debut album proved out to be both an artistic and a commercial success story. TFCQ surprisingly managed to merged smoothly the essence of the traditional Jazz with the sounds and approaches of modern Jazz and combining standards with fresh improvisations and quite danceable rhythmic structures with the richness of harmonies, melodies and mind blowing improvising explosions. It’s impossible to stay sit, TFCQ makes you jump up and swing to their music, and let’s face it, this is quite rare quality for a Jazz band now days. Read more The Five Corners Quintet – The Helsinki Sessions (2011)
Resurrection
The Resurrection is featured prominently in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim scriptures while the death and resurrection of Jesus is the central focus of Christianity. Resurrection is a false promise meant to tempered our fear before death or it’s an expression of hope? I was always preoccupied why in The New Testament are four Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – telling consequently the same story with few differences. I always felt it is a kind of need to proof and confirm this story, rather than record historical facts. The story of resurrection of Jesus is ambiguous just like his life between infancy and baptism. It’s pretty strange why Mary Magdalene was almost erased from all of the Gospels, but she play the main role in the resurrection of Jesus, actually being the first person to see Jesus after he rose from the dead, according to John 20 and Mark 16:9. Read more Resurrection
Red Snapper – Key (2011)
This is absolutely bloody ass kicking! And I mean it. Don’t judge a book by its cover and a CD by its label. In this particular case the label was “hip hop” and well, maybe there’s some hip hop left-overs in it, but this have nothing to do with what usually we thought of hip hop. This is jazz, modern, alive, pulsing, experimental jazz without being kind of exclusivist, it’s avantgardist without being abstract, in not so many words: this is fucking music! Well, if we trying hard enough we may find some parallels with US3, eventually with the Fun Lovin’ Criminals, but still. If there some other band which reminds me of , perhaps that would be Morphine. Honestly I don’t know where I kept or what I did with my ears in the last few years, but I stumbled into Red Snappers only yesterday while it seems they being around since 1994. But I can take off “Key” from the player since. Read more Red Snapper – Key (2011)
Helge Lien Trio – Natsukashii (2011)
This is a beautiful release from Norway by Helge Lien Trio – Helge Lien on piano, Frode Berg on bass and Knut Aalefjær on drums. Their previous release was “Hello Troll” in 2008, while this is their fifth full-length studio album. “Natsukashii” is felt with impressive lyrical moodscapes, maintaining the balance between jazz traditions and the avantgardist art of improvisation, including something from the contemplative approach of Garbarek and the bright play of Jarrett. This trio changing moods, shifting tempos and tunes fluently and colorful leaving wide open spaces to each other, but still going tight close together in a wonderful exploration of yet undiscovered sides of music. Read more Helge Lien Trio – Natsukashii (2011)
Iro Haarla Quintet – Vespers (2011)
Iro Haarla composer-pianist-harpist and her Finnish-Norwegian ensemble consist of Mathias Eick – trumpet, Trygve Seim – tenor and soprano saxophones, Ulf Krokfors – double-bass and Jon Christensen – drums, six years after releasing of “Northbound†are back with this brand new album released under the same trademark of ECM. Classy and gloomy, this is a slowburn, kind of candle light in the dark, winter night. Quiet and improvising, this “free ballads” have a kind of family reunion feeling where everybody tell his own story of the past few years, sometimes simultaneously, “speaking” over each other. Sometimes vague, often soaked with the particular Northern melancholy or directly with the taste of sadness, “Vespers” sounds as the score of our desperate alienation. Read more Iro Haarla Quintet – Vespers (2011)
Aidan Baker – Lost In The Rat Maze (2011)
Aidan Baker is a Canadian musician and writer alternately based in Toronto & Berlin. He performs as a solo artist and with several groups: Nadja, Whisper Room and Arc. A classically trained multi-instrumentalist, his primary instrument is the electric guitar with which he creates music ranging from experimental/drone to ambient post-rock and contemporary classical. He has released numerous albums on labels from around the world & has authored several books of prose/poetry. Read more Aidan Baker – Lost In The Rat Maze (2011)
Moon Duo – Mazes (2011)
Scheduled to be release on March 28 in Europe, respectively on March 29 in USA, “Mazes” is the second full-length album by Moon Duo. Inspired initially by the legendary duo of John Coltrane and Rashied Ali, Moon Duo was formed by Ripley Johnson of Wooden Shjips and Sanae Yamada in San Francisco in 2009. Utilizing primarily guitar, keyboards, and vocals, the Duo play a mixture of Psychedelic and Trance/Chillout, counts such variant groups as Silver Apples, Royal Trux, Moolah, Suicide, and Cluster as touchstones. They music is spacy and airy, minimalist, but kind of warm, pulsing, sometimes it give me the feeling that Iggy Pop jamming with the French duo Air. Read more Moon Duo – Mazes (2011)
